


A Matter of Appearances

by AkisMusicBox



Series: Get a Clue [5]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4
Genre: Akihiko hides a secret, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Glasses, Naoto sets a trap, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:00:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24762736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkisMusicBox/pseuds/AkisMusicBox
Summary: When Akihiko starts squinting at the board in class, Naoto gets a sneaking suspicion that he needs glasses. But convincing him of that is a whole different matter.
Relationships: Sanada Akihiko/Shirogane Naoto
Series: Get a Clue [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1519922
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	A Matter of Appearances

The first time it happened, Naoto, Chie, and Akihiko were sitting toward the back of World Religions class. Out of the corner of her eye, Naoto had seen that Akihiko had written 1777 instead of 1177. At the time, it didn't phase her -- she merely leaned over and fixed the second digit without a second thought. He scribbled a quick "Thanks" on her page in return.

The second time it happened, Naoto had been in Akihiko's apartment, sitting at the kitchen table as he finished paying his bills. She hadn't meant to pry. His finances were none of her concern; he had been taking care of himself for years before they met. However, when he squinted for a while at the electricity bill in his hand, she felt compelled to study the wrinkles that formed between his eyes. Then, his hand ran through his hair and finally went to his checkbook. He promptly added the wrong number of zeroes to the check. She dug the whiteout pen out of her backpack and slid it across the table.

He looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"One man can't consume so much electricity that his bill could jump that high," she said. Then, she raised an eyebrow herself. "Unless you have a secret bank of servers hidden somewhere mining cryptocurrency?"

He snorted and accepted the pen. "That example in the textbook was absurd. Just think of the heat that many servers would have generated in such a small apartment. You'd have to run the air conditioning a lot more too to compensate." And that was the end of the discussion of his finances.

The third time it happened, Naoto hadn't even been present. Chie had recounted the event over lunch on the quad.

"It was so weird! Like, sure, Yosuke got his haircut recently, and I was borrowing his jacket, but come on!" Chie threw her hands up in the air and huffed. "I was wearing a skirt! And I've got a girlish figure, right? I don't look like a boy from behind, do I?"

Naoto shook her head adamantly. "He seemed surprised that anyone mistook my gender when we first met, so I find that doubtful..." She stroked her chin. "He has been making some mistakes likely..."

Chie gasped. "You don't think he's... "

She nodded. "I do indeed. I also know that he's not one to admit a weakness unless he absolutely has to. Did you know he has a kiwi allergy? I bought Topsicles one time and it wasn't until a strawberry kiwi one was in his _hands_ did he admit to it!"

Chie scoffed. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. So, how are we going to get him to admit to _this?"_

Naoto flexed the tab on her can of coffee. "Give me some time. I'll need to flesh out a few details, but I will need your assistance on execution."

Chie grinned. "Anything you need!"

* * *

Three days later, while walking away from the gymnasium with Akihiko by her side, Naoto reached into her backpack and gasp. "My cellphone!" She swallowed hard and gave Akihiko a panicked look. "It's gone!"

The high from his workout dissolved into seriousness. "It might have fallen out," he said, eyes darting around the sidewalk for a moment. He then turned and jogged back toward the gym.

She followed him at a steady clip. "Perhaps it's back in the locker room. I hope it is -- the contact information alone has some phone numbers that are restricted to the general public."

From a distance, a figure in a black hoodie, dark sunglasses, and a plaid skirt emerged from the northern gym door. _Something_ was clutched in her hand. The woman turned, caught the sight of them, and flinched. She pulled the hood over her short, brown hair and ran in the other direction.

"Hey!" Akihiko yelled. "Hey, you! Come back here!" He bolted in the runner's direction, quickly outpacing Naoto.

Akihiko was quick, but the runner had a head start, and the runner knew where she was going. She dodged and weaved her way out of campus and to the street, darting across and finding a crowded sidewalk to weave through.

They chased the woman for blocks, Naoto's chest tightening as she realized that her cardio had not been nearly rigorous enough. Akihiko dogged pace was closing the gap however as the runner took a wrong turn, finally, down a dead-end street lined with businesses. "There's nowhere to go!" he roared. "Come back here you -!" He stopped in his tracks when he turned down the alley as well. "Chie?!"

The runner, standing in front of one of the businesses, doubled over and braced herself on her knees. She panted as she ripped her sunglasses off. "Duh!" Chie called between labored breaths.

Naoto finally caught up to Akihiko's side and grabbed his arm. "That's the second time you couldn't tell it was her," she managed as her lungs stung.

The least weary of the three, Akihiko shook his head. "Chie, do you even have her phone?"

Chie threw the hood off of her head and stood upright. She extended her hand to reveal a black pencil case.

He turned to Naoto. The pink on his face couldn't all be attributed to the run. "Are you serious? This was a trick?" He squinted and looked around the alley. Then, finally, he saw the sign above Chie. "An optometrist." He palmed his face. "Was I that obvious?"

Naoto rubbed his arm. "Give yourself some credit. I have a knack for this."

"I'm not going on," he said adamantly. "I'm not getting glasses."

"You most certainly are!" Chie retorted.

"There's a difference between weakness and medical needs," Naoto argued. "You're not conceding your strength by any means."

"Weakness has nothing to do with it," he said. "I just don't need to look old."

It was Naoto's turn to be confused. "Old? That's nonsense."

"Oh no!" Chie said. "Yeah, I could see that."

Naoto shot daggers at her. Chie held her hands up innocently. "What? The hair, the massive build, the scars, you can tell he's not fresh out of high school."

"Exactly," Akihiko said. "Between my looks and your reputation, Naoto, the last thing you need is me looking like an old man."

She'd deal with Chie's change of sides later. "Nobody cares about that," Naoto said. "And I think you'd look distinguished with glasses. Or contacts would be effective for your training as well."

Akihiko shook his head. "Oh, people care, they just don't say it to you. I overheard a group of guys talking about you after the jujitsu seminar and one of them mentioned that the only reason you were with a guy like me was because you were looking for a guy ready to marry. Didn't want any of the messy dating." He sighed. "You gotta understand, I just don't want to give people more reason to talk about you behind your back at school. I dealt with that in high school and I felt like everyone was watching me."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that, but it's a thin excuse for more nonsense!" she growled. "The only person's opinion on our relationship you should care about is me. My opinion is that you need to take care of yourself. And I believe it so much that there's an appointment in your name in fifteen minutes inside of that optometrist's office."

His mouth gaped. She was undeterred. "I know you can take care of yourself, but sometimes you can be so stubborn that I--"

"What did you tell them?" he asked. "How did they think you had the right to schedule appointments for me?"

She bit her lip as her stomach twisted. "W-well, considering your age, admittedly, it wasn't difficult to convince the reception that you were married, and if my conversation with her lead her to believe that I was your wife, that wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption."

"Holy cow!" Chie yelled, then clamped her hands over her mouth. "I didn't know you did that."

Akihiko laughed. "You pretended to be my wife so you could trick me into taking care of myself?"

Despite how much her face burned, Naoto held firm. "You need to be able to see!"

He ran his hand through his hair and chuckled. "Fine, fine. If you're that undeterred by appearances, literal or figurative, I'll do it. On one condition."

Naoto braced herself. "Name it."

"While I'm getting the exam, you need to pick out the frames. I mean, it's only right for a wife to care about what her husband's face looks like, right?" He smirked.

_What?!_ Naoto squeaked. "Fine!"

Chie buckled again, this time from laughter. "I'll leave you two newlyweds to it then!"

**Author's Note:**

> I shared a rough version of this with TataBanchou, before I figured out exactly how I wanted to end this. This was her impression:  
> 
> 
> And, she made an epilogue!  
> 


End file.
